Cowell — a notorious womaniser – was single at the time of his meeting with Katie having split from make-up artist Mezghan Hussainy the previous year.

However he had hit the headlines when a biography of him by Tom Bower — published in April 2012 and serialised in The Sun — revealed he had a secret fling with X Factor judge Dannii Minogue and wanted to seduce Cheryl Cole.

Simon is renowned in show­business circles for being sociable and often having friends round for late night drinks at home.

Leandro’s revelations confirm rumours about Katie and Cowell — now a settled father of one — that have swirled in showbiz circles about romance between the pair.

Katie Price reveals she wanted to kill herself after husband's affair with best pal

He is a doting dad to their baby Eric, born in February 2014 and named after his late father.

A source close to Cowell insisted that the TV star and Katie did not have sex at their meeting.

A spokesman for him said yesterday: “Katie and Simon are nothing more than friends and have been for many, many years.”

Simon has since bee getting a ribbing over the story from his Britain's Got Talent co-star David Walliams.

David poked fun at his boss in front of a BGT audience by asking whether his night with Katie was a "mistake".

David, 45, hit out after a BGT hopeful revealed on stage that he would be singing a song about a mistake he made ten years ago.

Turning to 57-year-old Simon at the London Palladium auditions, he quipped: “Was that the same mistake you made with Katie Price?”

BOTH CAN BOAST A STRING OF EX-LOVES

BY TESS DE LA MARE

KATIE’S first high-profile entanglement was with footie’s Teddy Sheringham when she was just 18.
After she and the soccer ace split she got engaged to TV Gladiator Warren Furman.
They broke up in 1998. Her next love was singer Dane Bowers.
That relationship lasted until 2000.
The following year she began seeing footballer Dwight Yorke.
He dumped her when she fell pregnant with son Harvey — initially denying the baby was his.
Katie then bedded Pop Idol teen Gareth Gates before falling for Peter Andre — a fellow contestant on I’m A Celebrity.
They wed in 2005 but split in 2009.
Her next hubby was cage fighter Alex Reid. They divorced in 2011 after 11 months. Katie spent two years with Argentinian model Leandro Penna. She is now wed to part-time stripper Kieran Hayler.
Simon Cowell’s first girlfriend was model Paula Hamilton, who he had known since school.
In the 1970s he hooked up with Jackie St Clair, who was also a model. Pop star Sinitta followed in 1984.
Their on-off relationship lasted 20 years despite him dating Page 3 girl Louise Payne in the 1990s.
Next came model Georgina Law, TV presenter Terri Seymour and Dannii Minogue.
In 2009 he got engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy. They broke it off.
He went on to meet New York socialite Lauren Silverman, 39, in 2013.
The pair are now proud parents to two-year-old Eric.

Katie Price goes home to her husband instead of partying at the NTA after party